


Strong Alcohol

by Cassidius_Wilde



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gathered enough info on the recent episode to do this, Kinda, bughead - Freeform, fuck the Riverdale writers, what I wanted to happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 10:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30138444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassidius_Wilde/pseuds/Cassidius_Wilde
Summary: What if Jughead picked Betty’s key instead?
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 7
Kudos: 64





	Strong Alcohol

**Author's Note:**

> I gotta thank Tumblr people for the episode summary.

Jughead didn’t know how many stinging gulps he had of whatever alcohol Cheryl had provided but it was as if he was back in his favourite bar in New York. He felt free, wanting to escape and soon found himself doing so when times and realities shifted until his mind spiralled back to the day where Betty Cooper was his as he was hers.

They were cuddled up in her bed and he smiled widely at the euphoric feeling of warmth and home in her arms as her fingers ran along his raven locks over and over again. He just felt so goddamn happy that the next thing he knew, he was standing up, tilting his back and taking one last shot of the brown liquid to go pick someone’s belongings from the bowl lifted on a random woman’s hands.

He tripped on the way and he cursed the pillow chair that paid off the embarrassment. When he stood next to the redheaded predator he heard Tabitha mentioning something about ‘home’ and he shook his head, hand diving down to pluck a metal key.

It was golden, the bow was square-ish in a way with a tiny hole in the middle but what caught his eye was the cute, black cat face attached on the round keyholder. It stared at him with beady, blue eyes and even when his mind was a scrambled mess, it worked its way in figuring out who it belonged to.

It wasn’t Archie’s. He’d know since he’s seen his key countless times before when he moved in. It couldn’t be Toni’s because she was never a cat person and he doubted it was Cheryl’s—she was more into gold and red than black and blue. Narrowing all the information he had of everyone in the room, the closest suspect he had in mind was  _ her  _ and what better proof than the plastered shock on her face when he turned around to proudly show it to everyone.

“Yes!” Jughead slurred enthusiastically, pointing at one Betty Cooper. “Let’s go!”

Betty didn’t want to, not yet anyway, but ever since he tripped in front of her, she knew something was wrong. She knew Jughead Jones and he was never one to let himself get wasted especially during a party.

As she stood up to follow his marching form towards a room, she saw Kevin’s jaw drop and the looks of concern on Archie and Veronica’s faces.

The room they intruded was no different from Betty’s memory of Cheryl’s old bedroom with golden, furnished posts and scarlet sheets.

“Okay, Jughead,  _ what  _ is going on with you?” Betty asked, shutting the door gently and turned to face him only to get her nose booped by his finger. He was close, looking at her like he did 8 years ago and she could smell the strong scent of alcohol all over him.

“God,” he groaned. “You are  _ so _ beautiful.”

The compliment put a knife in Betty’s heart. It shouldn’t mean anything because he was drunk off of his rocker but it  _ did _ . Jughead was a truthful drunk and hearing him say that after years of no contact hurt even more. She thought he moved on.

“Stop it, Jug,” she said. “You’re drunk.”

“No, I’m not.” Jughead stumbled closer until his hand went up to cup the side of her head and she did nothing to stop it. Why? Her orbs met his. They were as blue as the clear sky and still held so much love in them though there was a noticeable amount of sorrow swirling all around like a brooding storm. He looked beyond broken but was yet still trying to give her what good he had left.

“I love you,” he whispered and Betty’s breath hitched as her eyes widened, aghast. “You love me too, right?”

Tears started pooling in her eyes as memories of  _ that _ night flooded her mind. His tone was awfully similar to when he had left her a voicemail 4 years ago. 

_ “You love me, right? So why did you do it?”  _ Betty knew exactly what he was referring to. She had opened his message and her heart started beating at the sound of his voice, expecting him to say that they made a mistake splitting up but all hopes she held onto were crushed to pieces after hearing everything he had to say.

Now that he said it again in person had her speculating if he was as drunk during that time as well. But it didn’t matter as pain turned into guilt. Granted, the guilt of kissing Archie ate her alive for years but she shouldn’t feel it now that they had nothing to do with each other, but she did. Why? Different thoughts appeared like riddles, prompted by a four word inquiry of her drunk ex-boyfriend, all revolving around the main question of ‘what exactly was she doing with her life?’.

“Betty?” Her name flowed out of his lips like satin. 

_ “Why’d you do it, Betty?” _

“You love me, right? Jughead asked once more.

His face was red. He was so drunk. He wouldn’t remember anything tomorrow. Betty took in a shaky breath. “I love you. I never stopped,” she said and the weight on her shoulders felt lighter. He still had that effect on her.

Anything she said to him felt like he had pushed a boulder off of her that had been suffocating her for years, but telling him what she had longed to say since their break up felt like he sent her flying for the wide skies, where there was nothing but fresh wind on her face and warm sunlight on her back. She never took notice of the importance of it before, but talking to Jughead didn’t just distract her, didn’t make her forget, but it made her feel free, unburdened by the chaos of the world around her. 

“I love you, too, Juggie,” she continued with a teardrop, hand gripping his that was now on her cheek and he smiled from ear to ear. It reminded her of when they had their first kiss. When he climbed up her window and called her ‘Juliet’. “I love you so much.”

_ ‘But I don’t want to hurt you again.’ _

“Hey, no, why are you crying?” Jughead asked, clearly concerned, wiping the waters away with furrowed brows and she chuckled.

After a moment he leaned in, their lips brushed but, no. It wasn’t fair to him, Betty thought. She took advantage of him long enough. It put the boulder back on seeing the look of hurt on his face when she pulled away, but she wasn’t going to kiss him in this state.

“Wha—”

“You’re drunk, Jug.”

He went quiet for a second and shrugged with an awkward smile. “Oh, okay. Can we sleep then? If that’s okay.” His arms opened, as if waiting for the perfect puzzle piece.

Betty nodded. She wanted to stay in his arms forever. She wanted to stay home. But as soon as she had lulled him to sleep, she went to Archie’s house to talk. Talk about what they really meant to each and that they couldn’t keep doing what they were doing if they ever wanted to heal. She told him they didn’t work, but were better off as friends and would never be anything more. When he agreed, it was the closure she needed.

And after everything, for the first time, Betty felt like getting herself together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y’all enjoyed that!!


End file.
